She Invented That A digital museum of women in science

Scientist Exhibit

Maria Goeppert Mayer

Physics

1906 – 1972 United States, Germany

Developed the nuclear shell model

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Maria Goeppert Mayer

Overview

About Maria Goeppert Mayer

Maria Goeppert Mayer helped explain why certain atomic nuclei are unusually stable. Her nuclear shell model proposed that protons and neutrons occupy organized energy levels inside the nucleus. The model accounted for the observed magic numbers of nuclear stability and became a central part of nuclear physics.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Nuclear shell model

Development of the nuclear shell model explaining nuclear structure and magic numbers.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1930

education

Receives her doctorate from Göttingen

Goeppert Mayer completed her doctorate at the University of Göttingen before moving to the United States.

1949

discovery

Develops the nuclear shell model

Goeppert Mayer developed a model in which protons and neutrons occupy nuclear shells with distinct energy levels.

1949

publication

Publishes the spin-orbit explanation of nuclear magic numbers

Her 1949 work explained the observed nuclear magic numbers through strong spin-orbit coupling.

1960

career

Becomes a professor at the University of California, San Diego

Goeppert Mayer accepted a full professorship at the newly established University of California, San Diego.

1963

award

Receives the Nobel Prize in Physics

Goeppert Mayer shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure.

Places & Networks

Institutions